Talk to friends, acquaintances and business associates
about who they would recommend. This will generally give
you one of the best indications to a good realtor. Watch
that their suggestions are not just relatives in the business.
It still pays to check out all of their recommendations.
Check your local papers for Realtors who are heavily into
advertising. You want a Realtor who is going to promote
your property. Heavy advertising is also a good sign of
a successful realtor.
Look for a realtor who specializes in your area and within
your submarket, i.e., if you own a condominium unit, look
for a Realtor that is well versed in condominium sales.
In smaller communities, this may not always work so choose
someone who specializes primarily in residential property.
There is no sense in choosing a realtor specializing in
commercial property if you want to sell your house.
I'm sure that I'm going to get email on this one but,
if you can, choose a full time realtor and not someone
who sells real estate as a part time job. The bottom line
for you is to sell your home and since your paying about
$7,000.00 on a $100,000.00 house sale, you bet you want
their full attention to the job. In some rural areas and
smaller communities, you won't find a full time Realtor
and in this situation, there's not much you can do.
Let's
narrow the list down to one.
Choose the top three Realtors who appear to be the best.
My suggestion is to try and pick Realtors from separate
companies. I've found that they tend to compete for the
listing a little better than if you choose Realtors from
the same company.
Call
all three Realtors and let them know that you are intending
to sell your home and would like them to provide you with
an estimate of the market value.
Set
up individual appointments and let each one of them know
that you are having two other Realtors also providing
you with an evaluation. Be honest and upfront with each
one of them. When they know that they will be competing
for the listing they will typically pull out all the stops.
Watch as they all try to get the last appointment. The
reason for this is that the last Realtor in typically
has the greatest chance of getting the listing. The best
thing to do is to let them know that you will be making
a decision once you have had a chance to review everyone's
information.
Have
each one of the Realtors come in and give you their presentation
as to why you should choose them. Find out what they intend
to do to sell your home, what type of advertising are
they planning, will they hold open houses etc. Its also
a good time to ask them about their sales record.
Part of their presentation will be the market analysis
of your home. The analysis of your home should involve
a comparison of your home to homes in the area which have
recently sold and are available for sale. Question them
on their market analysis and pay attention to their answers.
Another good thing to do with this information is to take
a drive by the sales in the neighborhood and get your
own feeling on how they compare. Did the realtor in your
mind compare "apples to apples"?
Once
all Realtors have given you their presentation, let them
know that you will make your decision in the next day
or so and will call each one of them back to let them
know of your decision.
Now
that you've had presentations from three Realtors, which
one to choose?
First, don't necessarily choose the realtor that gave
you the highest estimate of value. Some, not all Realtors,
will give you a high estimate of value to get the listing.
They'll get the listing for as long as they can and slowly
work on you to get the price down to the level that it
should have been in the beginning. "Gee.. Mr. and
Mr. Smith, the house has been on the market for two weeks
now with no action, I think we should consider a price
reduction, bla, bla, bla".
Remember,
you make the final decision on the asking price but do
yourself a favor, if all the Realtors estimate the value
of your home at $100,000.00, don't overprice the property.
The worst thing you want to happen is that the home sits
on the market for six months, becomes stale and eventually
sells for less than $100,000.00 because everyone thinks
there is something wrong with the house. If you find that
you don't agree with the suggested price of any of the
Realtors, look at having an appraisal done on the property
by a qualified appraiser.
Use
the tips provided above to make the search for the best
Realtor for the job a little easier. Choose the realtor
that, in your mind, gave you the best presentation and
appears to be excited about selling your home. Set the
price realistically keeping in mind the values given to
you by the Realtors and the appraiser.
